Sunday, January 07, 2007

Other than crusty rustic loaves, there is one kind of bread which fascinates me a lot. Since I started making bread, I have always been checking out the recipe, but have never attempted it, that is, until now.

Looking at the picture above, doesn't it look like a cinnamon swirl bun? Take a closer look below:

Okay, let me continue my story of this bread. This is a japanese styled bread, which is the oneI've been 'oogling at' for years. In fact, many of the breads there are really picture-perfect. But translating the recipes is a challenge since the online translated versions doesn't make sense most of the time. I've always thought that they use a special kind of chocolate sheet for these which are not easily available for domestic baking. But all thanks to Idawho kindly translated the recipe, I managed to make my own chocolate sheet.

Using my own recipe for sweet buns, coupled with the shaping instructions in e-pan, this is my final product for Chocolate Swirl Bread.

Okay, I know this is a far cry from the picture in e-pan (honestly, I'm amazed at the number of swirls there, which made me dizzy *LOL*). But for a second attempt (yes, I made two loaves in two consecutive weeks), I'm quite satisfied with it. I hope to improve on the number of swirls in my next try, which is a test of my patience I must say, because I spent one hour solely on the shaping due to the resting periods in between. But it's pretty worth it :)

aiyo, seems my new blogger "plays" me, didn't send out my comment this morning... But I enjoy coming come a few times to drool overy your work of art anyway! Truely beauitful! I like your version though (I'm not crazy for too chocolatey bread). That chocolate swirls look very elegant, and do not overpound the bread, so I can see how fluffy and soft inside too!